John 1:14-34 Bible Study & Exploration
Jesus Offers Grace Upon Grace
(Verses 14-15) In the beginning of this chapter, John explains that the Word of God is Jesus and Jesus is God. In verse 14, John states that Jesus came to dwell among mankind in the flesh.
Jesus had to be both fully God and fully man. Jesus was the only way to bridge the gap between God and mankind. The gap was created by the sins of mankind and their rejection of God. God does not abide in sin. Therefore, it took Jesus who was both fully God and fully man to bring mankind back to God.
Only Jesus could embrace the Father with one arm while embracing mankind with the other. Thus, Jesus’ ability to offer people the right to be “children of God.” Therefore, Jesus is the only way. No one else has the ability to bring us to the grace of salvation. There is nothing that we can do that Christ has not already done in our place to gain salvation and reunification with God.
Jesus, being the Son of God was full of grace and truth. He came to offer that truth and grace to mankind.
Being a Christian allows us access to the grace that comes with knowing and accepting Jesus as our savior. The Christian walk with the Holy Spirit sanctifies us. This sanctification brings us closer to God in our journey.
This journey brings us into the abundance of grace and blessings that God willfully wishes us to experience. As we seek to please our heavenly Father and to always find ourselves in His favor, the “grace upon grace” is poured out in full measure. This is where we experience the joy and peace of knowing Christ.
Why Do We Need Grace?
(Verses 16-18)We know the law was given through Moses. The law defines God’s standards for us and our inability to fulfill the law. The law came to show us that we were the problem that we couldn’t fix. Our sin nature was incurable, until Jesus arrived.
The law demonstrated the problem of mankind. Grace came in Jesus as the solution to the problem for mankind.
John the Baptist Testifies About Jesus
(Verse 15-26) John makes it clear to the Pharisees that he is not the Messiah. John can only baptize with water. Jesus, who they knew of through the Tanakh (Old Testament) but didn’t recognize Him in the flesh, would baptize with the Holy Spirit.
(Verses 29-34) John the Baptist again testifies to Jesus being the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
The Jews understood what the phrase “the Lamb of God” meant. They had sacrificed many lambs in the temple for the atonement of sins. But they didn’t quite understand that Jesus was the final Lamb who would take away the sins of the world once and for the last time.
John the Baptist admits that he didn’t know who Jesus was until it was revealed to him by God. Once he saw the Holy Spirit come down upon Jesus as he was told, then he knew He was God’s Chosen One.